- Jan 2 Elara, a satellite of Jupiter, discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine in San Jose, California
- Jan 2 In Chicago, Illinois, a conference of 23 industrial trade unionists issues the 'Industrial Union Manifesto' calling for a convention to be held in Chicago in June, laying the groundwork for the formation of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
- Jan 2 Japanese troops capture Port Arthur from Russia, a blow to national morale and causing further discontent within Russia
- Jan 5 Charles Perrine announces discovery of Jupiter's 7th satellite, Elara
- Jan 5 Incorporation of the National Association of Audubon Society, a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to conservation
- Jan 16 Baseball outfielder Frank Huelsman completes eighth transaction in 8 months
- Jan 16 Stanley Cup, Dey's Arena, Ottawa, Ontario: Ottawa Senators rout Dawson City (Yukon), 23-2 for 2-0 series sweep; most lopsided challenge playoff game in history; Frank McGee 14 goals
- Jan 17 Punchboards patented by Charles Brewer & C G Scannell, Chicago
- Jan 18 French government of Combes falls
US Supervises Dominican Debt
Jan 20 US begins supervising the Dominican Republic's national and international debts, testing President Theodore Roosevelt's "Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine
1905 Russian Revolution
Jan 22 In St Petersburg, Russia, a large demonstration of workers led by Father Gapon, march to the Winter Palace with a petition to the Tsar; troops fire on protesters in what becomes known as 'Bloody Sunday'
Pelleas und Melissande
Jan 25 Arnold Schoenberg's symphonic poem "Pelleas und Melissande" premieres at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria
- Jan 26 Han Yong-woon [Bongwan, Manhae] (1879-1944) ordained a monk in Korea
World's Largest Diamond Discovered
Jan 26 World's largest diamond, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, is found in South Africa
- Jan 27 Maurice Rouvier forms government in France
Nicolas II's Worker Reforms
Jan 29 Tsar Nicolas II of Russia, unsettled by the rising violence and protest, enacts reforms to improve the conditions of workers; these changes will do little to stop disorder throughout Russia in ensuing months
- Jan 31 1st automobile to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), British daredevil Arthur Macdonald drive a Napier six-cylinder racing car named 'Samson' on sands of Daytona Beach, Florida, notching a top speed of 104 mph
- Jan 31 Carroll Wright appointed 1st Commissioner of Labor, USA
- Feb 1 Dutch soccer club ADO Den Haag forms in The Hague; ADO represents the amateur branch of the club
- Feb 1 Hungarian premier Count István Tisza resigns
- Feb 7 Dominican Republic signs treaty turning over customs collection to US
- Feb 8 Cyclone hits Tahiti & adjacent islands, killing some 10,000 people
- Feb 11 James Blackstone, Seattle, bowls 299½-last pin breaks but stands
- Feb 11 Pope Pius X publishes encyclical Vehementer nos
- Feb 13 -29°F (-34°C) Pond, Arkansas (state record)
- Feb 13 -40°F (-40°C) Lebanon, Kansas (state record)
- Feb 13 -40°F (-40°C) Warsaw, Missouri (state record)
- Feb 15 1st thoroughbred horse race meet at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Feb 16 1st US Esperanto club organizes in Boston
- Feb 17 American educator and women's suffragist Frances Willard becomes 1st women honored in National Statuary Hall in the US Capital building, Washington, D.C.
Hidalla oder Sein und Haben
Feb 18 Frank Wedekind's play "Hidalla oder Sein und Haben" (Hidalla, or Being and Having) premieres in Munich
- Feb 23 First Rotary Club formed by 4 men in the Unity Building, Chicago
- Feb 24 Simplon railroad tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland achieves breakthrough after 7-1/2 years of construction
- Feb 25 The Nederlands Verbond van Vakverenigingenwas, a Dutch social-democratic trade union, forms
- Mar 3 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agrees to summon a 'consultative assembly' and concedes other points including an edict of religious toleration, relief for Jews, and the cancellation of certain debts
- Mar 3 US Forest Service forms
Elga
Mar 4 Gerhart Hauptmann's play "Elga" premieres in Berlin
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Mar 7 Arthur Conan Doyle publishes "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" collection in London after public pressure to revive his famous detective (Feb New York)
Event of Interest
Mar 12 The continuing strikes and disorders that unsettle Italy force out Premier Giovanni Giolitti, though he will return in March, 1906
Quantum Theory of Light
Mar 17 Albert Einstein finishes his scientific paper detailing his Quantum Theory of Light, one of the foundations of modern physics
Visit of Wilhelm II
Mar 31 Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany visits Tangier, Morocco and proclaims Germany's support of Moroccan independence and equal opportunity for all powers to trade there
- Apr 1 "SOS" first adopted as a morse distress signal (· · · – – – · · ·) by German government
- Apr 1 British East African Protectorate becomes colony of Kenya
- Apr 2 Cairo-Capetown railway opens
- Apr 4 Earthquake in Kangra India, kills 20,000
- Apr 5 J.m.Barrie's stage play "Alice Sit-by-the-Fire" premieres in London
- Apr 6 Germany receives invitation from Sultan of Morocco to an international conference to discuss matters relating to Morocco
- Apr 12 French Dufaux brothers test helicopter
- Apr 12 Hippodrome arena opens (NYC)
- Apr 17 US Supreme Court judges maximum work day unconstitutional in Lochner v. New York by declaring the "right to free contract" implicit in the due process clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution
- Apr 21 The elective assembly of Crete proclaims union with Greece
- Apr 22 Operations begin uniting conservatory of Nature monument Amsterdam
Jack Hobbs Debut
Apr 24 First-class cricket debut of Sir Jack Hobbs, "The Master" for Surrey v the "Gentlemen of England" (18 & 88)
- Apr 24 Senators execute a triple-play & beat Yankees 4-3
- Apr 25 Latest day of 1st-class cricket in an Aust season (NSW v Qld)
- Apr 25 Whites win right to vote in South Africa
- Apr 26 Cubs Jack McCarthy becomes only major league player to throw out 3 runners at plate in 1 game, all were ends of a double play
- Apr 27 World Exposition opens in Liège
- Apr 29 2" rain falls in 10 mins in Taylor, Texas
Brazza Lands in Libreville
Apr 29 Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza lands in Libreville, Gabon
- Apr 30 First official soccer game between neighbouring countries Belgium-Netherlands; Dutch win, 4-1 at Olympic Stadium, Antwerp
Historic Publication
May 2 French newspapers publish lists of Jules Verne's unpublished work
Jeffries Retires Undefeated
May 13 World heavyweight boxing champion James J. Jeffries retires undefeated after 7 title defences; returns in 1910 to be beaten by Jack Johnson
- May 15 Las Vegas founded in Nevada
- May 15 Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza reaches Leopoldville in the Congo
- May 17 Waseda U of Tokyo defeats LA High School 5-3 in baseball
- May 19 Tom Jenkins beats Frank Gotcha for heavyweight wrestling champ
- May 22 Royal Academy in Delft Holland becomes Technical High School
- May 26 A pogrom against Jews in Minsk, Belorussia
Battle of Tsushima
May 27 Japanese fleet destroys the Russian East Sea fleet in the Battle of Tsushima, the only decisive clash between modern steel battleships in history
- May 29 Pogrom against Jewish community in Brisk, Lithuania
Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
Jun 1 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition opens in Portland, Oregon
- Jun 6 French Foreign minister Delcasse resigns on German request
- Jun 7 Norway dissolves union with Sweden (in effect since 1814)
- Jun 8 US President Theodore Roosevelt sends identical notes to Japan and Russia urging them to negotiate and end hostilities, offering his personal services
- Jun 10 1st forest fire lookout tower placed in operation at Greenville, Maine
- Jun 11 Penns Railroad debuts fastest train in world (NY-Chicago in 18 hrs)
- Jun 13 New York Giants future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson throws his 2nd no-hitter, beating Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at West Side Grounds, Chicago
- Jun 18 Russian police open fire on a workers' rights demonstration in Łódź, Congress Poland, killing 10, and leading to an armed insurrection against the occupying forces
- Jun 21 Polish workers in Łódź, Congress Poland stage strikes and insurrection against Russian occupation; quashed by tsars' troops after a few days
- Jun 25 Tsarist Russian troops in Łódź, Congress Poland crush workers' militia insurrection against Russian occupation; 151-200 workers killed and over 1,000 injured
- Jun 27 Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) is established at "The "Continental Congress of the Working Class" in Chicago, Illinois; members include representatives of the Socialist Labor Party/Socialist Trades & Labor Alliance, Socialist Party of America, Western Federation of Miners and the International Working People's Association
- Jun 27 Russian sailors mutiny aboard battleship "Potemkin" and sail for Odessa
- Jun 30 27 year-old clerk Albert Einstein publishes his theory of special relativity, the relationship between space and time in equation E=mc2
Deakin Returns to Power
Jun 30 Conservative Australian Prime Minister George H. Reid is forced to resign and Alfred Deakin returns to power on July 5
- Jun 30 In Russia, the "Potemkin" arrives at Odessa, where sailors take the bodies of dead crewman ashore; sailors join civilians in revolutionary actions of the '1905 Revolution'
- Jun 30 The crew of the Russian battleship "Georgei Pobiedonosets" mutinies in support of the "Potemkin", which mutinied three days earlier
- Jul 3 American boxer Marvin Hart scores a 12th round KO of Jack Root in Reno, Nevada for the vacant world heavyweight title
- Jul 3 Kuyper government forms in Holland
- Jul 6 Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the second time
- Jul 7 127°F (53°C), Parker, Arizona (state record until 1994)
Elihu Root Secretary of State
Jul 7 Elihu Root joins the cabinet of President Theodore Roosevelt, serving as United States Secretary of State
- Jul 8 Part of Angel Island in San Francisco Bay allocated for Immigration Detention Center
- Jul 8 The soldiers of the Russian battleship "Potemkin" who mutinied, surrender to Romanian authorities, who turn ship over to Russian authorities soon after
Event of Interest
Jul 10 Dutch Queen Wilhelmina opens Technical Hague court
Niagara Movement
Jul 11 Black intellectuals and activists led by W.E.B. Du Bois organize the civil rights Niagara Movement
- Jul 12 The British and Japanese renew their alliance (of January 1902) for 10 years and agree to provide mutual support if attacked by other power
- Jul 19 Llamas war party attacks group of 60, fleeing French mission at Tzekou, (Chinese-Tibetan border) murdering most with Scottish botanist George Forrest escaping by hiding for nine days [1]
- Jul 22 Philadelphia Athletic's Weldon Henley no-hits St Louis Browns, 6-0
- Jul 24 Tsar Nicholas II (Russia) and Emperor Wilhelm II (Germany) sign the Björkö Treaty, whereby each country agrees to come to the other's defense if attacked by European powers
Taft-Katsura Agreement
Jul 29 US Secretary of War William Howard Taft makes secret agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Katsura agreeing to Japanese free rein in Korea in return for non-interference with the US in the Philippines
- Jul 30 Dutch Covenant of Worker's union, NVV, forms
- Jul 31 Matumbi rebellion at Samanga, German East Africa
- Aug 5 First meeting of the Russian and Japanese peace commissioners takes place in US President Theodore Roosevelt's home at Oyster Bay, New York
- Aug 6 26.7 cm rainfall at Princeton, Indiana (state record)
Antwerp Central Station
Aug 12 King Leopold II opens Antwerp Central Station
- Aug 14 Ngindo-rebellion killed 5 RC German clergymen in East-Africa
- Aug 15 Philadelphia A's future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rube Waddell no-hits St Louis Browns, 2-0 in 5 innings
- Aug 16 Mbunga-rebellion occupy German post Ifakara East-Africa
- Aug 17 Dutch government of Theo de Meester begins
- Aug 19 Russian Tsar Nicholas II installs "Imperial Duma", without legislative powers
T'ung Meng Hui Formed
Aug 20 Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen forms the first chapter of T'ung Meng Hui, a union of all secret societies determined to bringing down the Manchus (Qing dynasty)
- Aug 24 Chicago Cubs beat Phillies 2-1 in 20 innings
- Aug 29 Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza leaves Brazzaville
- Aug 30 Detroit Tigers future Baseball HOF center fielder Ty Cobb makes his MLB debut, doubling off Jack Chesbro in a 5-3 win over the NY Highlanders at Bennett Park, Detroit
- Aug 30 Pogoro/Ngindo attack Fort Mahenge in German East-Africa
- Aug 31 Mbunga rebellion takes German Fort Mahenge East Africa
Alberta & Saskatchewan Join Confederation
Sep 1 Wilfrid Laurier oversees Alberta and Saskatchewan joining the Confederation of Canada as its 8th and 9th Canadian provinces; both were separated from the Northwest Territories
- Sep 2 Chinese crown discontinues its Imperial Examinations (Golden Lists), civil service recruitment exams that dated back in some form to 581AD and influenced British civil service and beyond [1]
- Sep 2 New Zealand beats Australia 14-3 in cold, wet conditions in the first international Rugby Union match between the countries on New Zealand soil at Tahuna Park in Dunedin
- Sep 5 50 prominent men meet in Sydney's Australia Hotel to found the National Defense League fueled by fear of Japan after its victory over Russia
- Sep 5 Lillian Mortimer's play "No Mother to Guide Her" premieres in Detroit
- Sep 5 Treaty of Portsmouth is signed concluding the Russo-Japanese War; US President Theodore Roosevelt receives the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as mediator
- Sep 6 Atlanta Life Insurance Company forms
- Sep 6 Chicago White Sox pitcher Frank Smith no-hits Detroit Tigers, 15-0
- Sep 6 General Trade journal publishes 1st Dutch photo (train accident)
- Sep 8 Pittsburgh Pirates strand NL record 18 men on base in 8-3 defeat to Cincinnati Reds at Exposition Park, Pittsburgh
- Sep 10 Japanese battleship Mikasa explodes at her moorings after the magazine catches fire, killing 251 seamen
- Sep 14 Albert Cuypstrat street market in Amsterdam inaugurated
- Sep 14 Dutch AR-politician AWF Idenburg named governor of Suriname
- Sep 14 RAC Tourist Trophy first run on Isle of Man
- Sep 18 Electric tramline opens in Rotterdam
- Sep 20 Cleveland makes AL record 7 errors in an inning
- Sep 21 Atlanta Life Insurance Co forms
- Sep 22 Race riot in Atlanta Georgia kill 10 black people and 2 white
- Sep 23 Mbunga-siege of Fort Mahenge German East-Africa broken
- Sep 27 Boston's Bill Dinneen no-hits Chicago White Sox, 2-0
- Sep 27 The physics journal Annalen der Physik publishes Albert Einstein's paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", introducing the equation E=mc².
Sonata 1. X. 1905
Oct 1 František Pavlík is killed in a demonstration in Prague, inspiring Leoš Janáček to write his Piano Sonata 1. X. 1905.
Flyer III Flies a Circle
Oct 5 Orville and Wilbur Wright's make a circling flight on "Flyer III" of 24.2 miles (38.9 kms) in 39 minutes and 23 seconds
La Mer
Oct 15 Claude Debussy's symphonic sketch "La Mer" premieres in Paris
- Oct 15 Union workers at NVV rejects safety demands
- Oct 16 The Partition of Bengal (India) announced by Lord Curzon
- Oct 20 Great General Strike in Russia begins; lasts 11 days
- Oct 20 Russian Tsar Nicholas II allows the Poles to speak Polish to help quell the revolution in the Kingdom of Poland
- Oct 21 In early promotion of soccer in America, England Pilgrim Association XI beats All New York XI, 7-1 at the Polo Grounds, NY
- Oct 23 Edward Milton Royle's play "Squaw Man" premieres in NYC
- Oct 26 First Soviet (workers' council) formed, St Petersburg, Russia
- Oct 26 Union of Sweden & Norway ends
- Oct 29 Nama chief Hendrik Witbooi fatally injured fighting for independence against German colonists near Vaalgras (modern Namibia) [1]
- Oct 30 "October Manifesto" Russian Tsar Nicholas II grants civil liberties and accepts the first Duma (Parliament)
Mrs Warren's Profession
Oct 30 George Bernard Shaw's play "Mrs Warren's Profession" premieres in NYC
- Oct 31 Great revolutionary demonstration for amnesty in St Petersburg
- Nov 3 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia signs a document of amnesty for the political prisoners
- Nov 4 Dock strike against importing grain elevators in Rotterdam
Amundsen Completes Northwest Passage
Nov 5 Roald Amundsen reaches Eagle City, Alaska, to announce to the world by telegraph his is the first expedition, in 400 years of attempts, to complete a Northwest Passage [1]
- Nov 9 Swedish mine workers win 5 month strike for minimum wages
- Nov 10 Sailors join the rebellion at Kronstadt naval base in Russia
- Nov 11 High Commissioner Prince George declares amnesty for all leaders of the insurrection that has been disturbing Crete during the recent months - but which never gained mass support
- Nov 12 (November 12 & November 13) Norway holds a referendum in favor of monarchy over republic.
- Nov 14 David Belasco's "Girl of Golden West" premieres in NYC
- Nov 16 Dutch Russian Count Witte becomes Prime Minister of Russia
- Nov 17 The Eulsa Treaty is signed between Japan and Korea
- Nov 18 George Bernard Shaw's play "Major Barbara" premieres in London
- Nov 18 Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway
- Nov 19 The steamer "Hilda" sinks in the English Channel (100 people drown)
- Nov 21 1st match ever played in the Australian National Tennis Championships
- Nov 22 British, Italian, Russian, French and Austro-Hungarian fleet attacks Lesbos
- Nov 23 Henry Watson Furness, an American physician from Indiana is named US minister to Haiti
- Nov 24 Moshav Hertzlia forms in Israel
Alfred Stieglitz
Nov 24 Photographer Alfred Stieglitz opens the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in Manhattan, New York
First Ad for a Radio Set
Nov 25 Telimco makes the 1st ever advertisement for a radio set, by advertising a $8.50 set in the "Scientific American" which claimed to receive signals for up to one mile
Sinn Féin Forms
Nov 28 Arthur Griffith forms Sinn Féin in Dublin
Alfred Balfour Resigns
Dec 4 British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour resigns after three years in office
Salome
Dec 9 Richard Strauss' opera "Salome" premieres in Dresden
- Dec 10 Austrian pacifist and writer Bertha von Suttner becomes the 1st woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
- Dec 11 120°F (49°C), Rivadavia, Argentina (South American record)
- Dec 11 A workers uprising occurs, establishing the Shuliavka Republic in Kiev
- Dec 11 British government of Campbell-Bannerman forms
- Dec 15 The Pushkin House is established in St. Petersburg to preserve the cultural heritage of Alexander Pushkin
- Dec 16 "Variety" covering all phases of show business, 1st published
- Dec 18 H V Hordern takes 8-81 in 2nd innings of First Class debut (NSW v Qld)
O'Brien vs. Fitzsimmons
Dec 20 'Philadelphia' Jack O'Brien wins the World Light Heavyweight boxing title after defending champion Bob Fitzsimmons of England retires in round 13 of 20 in San Francisco
- Dec 22 Arrest of St Petersburg Soviet members leads to an uprising of Moscow workers and fighting in the street
- Dec 25 V Herbert/H Blossoms musical "Mlle Modiste" premieres in NYC
- Dec 27 Australian cricket all-rounder Monty Noble scores 281 (369 mins with 21 fours) in NSW total 805 v Victoria in Melbourne
- Dec 28 NSW all out for 805 vs Victoria, win by innings & 253
- Dec 30 Former Governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated near his home in Caldwell, Idaho
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists